nta16

Ah the foreign country that is that-there-Lundun with it's strange ways. I just meant with the charger maintainers unless you let one of the cars get into such a bad way as with your Fox with charging and battery the process will be top-ups and nothing drastic requiring buzz words or "features" just simple rechanging and perhaps maintaining. The Fox would be a sensible size small car to me and with 50+ years of generally disappointment with computer electronics the less of them the better for me. I like wind up windows! Warrior's last post is why I always fully recharge the battery on my wife's 2015 Fabia (which really seems to annoy some poster/viewers here) also a 2015 car has less electric features and interfering "assists" than on a 2020 version so less potential drains. As always each to their own. You will learn how much each of the cars need recharging, and perhaps preventative charging, by experience (easier with the Ring charger maintainers s as they show voltage figures to learn by rather than just a few coloured lights of the Aldi/Lidl or CTek. Charging the batteries and keeping them in good order isn't difficult or complex, it's simple or I'd not be able to do it, don't get too tied down by too much details, as I put before things aren't always as black and white as they're made out to be and there's often wriggle room - though it might be forbade in that-there-Lundun tho'. Good luck.

The cable runs at the top of the wing so I don't think there's much point taking the wheel and wheel arch liner off as the break is probably at the cable joint thing after but if you can't think of anything else you could see what (if much/any ) access or view you get by doing so. Anything else I can think of just risks damage, sorry. Are you sure the cable is broke, if not you could try removing the pull handle and if required interior trim panel and pull the cable with pliers.

Has pulse charging actually been proved to do anything different really then, pulse charging was more marketing buzz last time I looked it up many, many moons back now mind. I'm not sure the £75 is 5 times as good or will last 5 times as long as the £15 and unlike my mate if you only have one Ctek you won't see inconsistences with a second same model. For your Dad's BMW do check and read the 'Owner's Manual' and check if there one or two 12v battery(ies), even the old ones had points in the engine bay for neg and pos as the (single) battery is in the boot under a silly fragile power points bar so a PITA to even see let alone really get at. Amazon isn't the only suppler in the world (and not often the lowest priced) but it soon might be if no one shops elsewhere. If you can't fully recharge in one go you can try more goes, as Tesco tell us every little helps. An outside double mans socket is very handy for lots of things (I've only a single at the front "garden"). If using a 12v socket you must check that it can be used for charging. The Ring, Halfords, CTek charger maintainers also have O-ring terminals to add a permanent connection on to the battery or you can make up your own leads and connector. £300+ ! Are you looking at Amazon prices for batteries too !?! 🙂 And 15 minutes would be going slower than me and I never go at any pace working on a car, that would include going to the shed, remembering where I left the charger, betting it out of the box, walking to car, forget car keys, going back for car keys, connecting up, untangling wires, plugging in, waiting for reading, pressing mode watching to see how quickly the volts reading goes up, walking away. Yeah, perhaps 7 and 1/2 minutes - but you might have a much bigger property than our very small place. The battery wouldn't have been at fault, it would have been your Dad forgot about he battery because it's so reliable the same as now. Just think of the battery like a bank account if you don't want it in the black (empty) or too low then you need to put in at least as much as you take out to retain what was there before but time will diminish things anyway (inflation as battery age, abuse and neglect), hope that makes sense. Imagine if you had a slot card meter to for the electric used in the car you'd soon learn about usage, same way you do when you pay for home electricity rather than your parents, you don't leave stuff running than doesn't need to be as much. 😄 2011 is still a new car to me, newest car I've ever owned was in 2004 and I only kept that for about 6 months. 😄

Some will insist you need to 'code' the new battery so the computer knows it's new, others will say the computer will "learn" (it doesn't really learn but that doesn't matter, the computer will sort things with car use). Yes 59Ah would be close enough to 60Ah if you go with the not 'coding' theory (the absolute need for 'coding' for like-for-like battery change has not been proven to me and others but we could be wrong going on the reported experience of those that didn't bother 'coding'). If you not already driven the car start the engine so the alternator and computer system is running, turn the headlights on, the air-con on, and blower if you want and if your car has electric power steering turn the steering wheel all the way in one direction and then the other this way the very dumb computer will see ("learn?) straight away the battery and charging system can cope with this heavy electric load to save time. Worth 'coding' if a garage will 'code' at a very low price or better still someone DIY with a scan tool with an appropriate program on it for you model and year of VW car (whatever that is) could 'code' for a beer token and clear any outstanding error codes and give you a health report before and after doing this. Whoever does it check their data entry (numbers) before accepting what they've done. HTH.

You can of course do as you please but I'd be surprised if your Halfords charger maintainer isn't suitable for AGM batteries, check the manual. Things aren't as black and white as they are sometimes presented, many differences in models and their "features" and functions can be more about marketing and sales of the charger maintainers. ETA: there's not going to be much de-sulphation with most ordinary car use or occasional short term non-use. Just as an example, I and others, have replaced an EFB battery in the engine bay of a VWŠkoda with an AGM battery without adding the extra required heat insulation and use standard "smart" (they're not, no "smart" devices are) battery charger. Now I'm not saying anyone else should do either particularly if they are worried about it and/or don't want to but so far in four years of the AGM battery being fitted and say three years of it being charged with the standard "smart" charger maintainer (whilst in the car) the battery seems fine and certainly hasn't melted or blown up, if it packs up within the next 2 or 3 of years or so (at 6 ,7 years old) I'll know I got something very wrong.

Think of the battery and alternator as working partners if either is low or poorly the other has to do more work so will to some extent wear more so shortened life. So an old worn battery will have the alternator working more perhaps and a new battery in a car with an old worn alternator will have the battery doing more. Halfords never knowingly under-priced. 😄 The previous one looked like my Ring charger (but more expensive) so does that one that'll be fine for your BMW, no need to spend more money on a CTek, unless you want to. How long it takes to fully charger the battery depends on many things but as I've put you can leave that Halfords (Ring?) charger maintainer as long as you like. - "Designed for long-term charging". 5 or 6 hours may or may not be sufficient to sufficiently recharge the battery or to fully (as much as possible) recharge, it depends how low the battery is at the start and how much drain there is in and on the car. 4-amps is lowish so takes longer to charge the battery but low amps is good for recharging, especially a battery that has discharged slowly. When you connect up the chargers positive and negative clamps/leads and then plug int the electric mains supply the charger maintainer will light up and then give a voltage, from that you decide if the battery needs charging or if you want to. You could connect up the charger maintainer every time you park up if you want to but there's no need to overdo things, or get paranoid about the battery. Whilst charging the battery is very easy, clean-hands 'work' it's still farting about on a car which you want to keep to a reasonable minimum as just about most other things are better and more rewarding in life. I do enough with the battery on my wife's Fabia to give it a reasonable long life as they're expensive and I expect decades rather than years out of stuff I buy and much, much more importantly that it doesn't give my wife any hassle on the car as that means a lot more hassle for me farting about even more with a car I don't like and I loathe working on our cars. This is why I replaced the battery as I learnt what a PITA these modern VWs are, not that I've ever liked VWs, or German cars generally really, except perhaps a Golf MK1 GTi and I did consider a BMW Z4 and Alpina Z4 for a very short time (s/h). VW rant over. If you want more battery or VW stop/start info just ask as I could probably overload you with the very little I've got so only give you what you want. The information is generally fairly easy to find I'm only acting as a librarian and from decades of experience of helping out neighbours with their car batteries from extreme or nil car use.

Some just don't like it, Sod's Law can often be in attendance with it on and off too often annoying in traffic or at briefest of stops or near stops at stops, traffic lights, give-ways, mini and full roundabouts, combined with DSG and 1.0 three pot or (?)1.5 ACT(?) engines "quirks". Also for those with high 12v battery use, abuse or neglect possibly combined with not too frequent and short journeys 12v battery wear, tear and shorter life, sometimes only noticed after the stop/start hasn't worked when it should for a while and/or lots of unexpected dash warnings and unexpected issues. But many/most live with it very happily and successfully, and it's a token gesture to emissions for those that want or need such. For those that like it, or accept it great. Personally I can take it or leave it and accept those that want it and those that don't.

From the 2020/07 'Owner's manual' - see last line, "for more than three weeks". Engine bay earth point. If you have an appropriate charger maintainer and the facilities you can leave it connected up so that it rechargers the battery and then maintains it at that level ready for the next use of the car. The battery and car's charging system are designed for cyclical use so personally I'd never leave the maintainer on for months on end as cars need use for keep other systems, components and parts working well. If I couldn't use the car for whatever reason after a month with the maintainer on I would disconnect it for a couple of weeks before putting it back on. If the car isn't used for many months I'd consider selling it. HTH.

@Exkiwi my apologises to you, I was rushing too much with my last post I didn't thank you for answering my question about where the CTek was made, sorry about this, I shouldn't forget good manners even when rushing. ETA: I can't post up extracts from your 'Owner's Manual' as I have no idea of what vehicle you own, I thought I'd seen it mentioned or in your 'Author's stats' but once again I am wrong it seems, or I've forgot both very possible many times a day.

Lots of variables on this but if the battery was in reasonable state of charge and health before you parked it up and you've not left anything plugged in so just the usual car draining then I'd not worry about two weeks. Have a look in your 'Owner's Manual' for where the negative post is in the engine bay and it might say something like disconnect the battery if you're not using the car for 3(?) 4(?) weeks. Damage due to just sitting would be a very long time and again be dependant on variables but bear in mind letting the battery get too low and/or for too often then there will be an accumulative effect and recharges might not get the battery to fully how it was before. Also bear in mind the 12v likes say 20c ambient and self-discharges IIRC twice as much at 30c and twice as much again at 40c so even if disconnected this is a factor but of course so far we don't have too many days at 30 or 40 (IIRC 40.2c near me a couple of years ago). The VWŠkoda stop/start car battery charging is said to keep the battery to 80% charged to allow 20% headroom for regenerative charging during braking. You also need to consider some people use (and waste) more electricity in their cars (and homes) than others and their driving and journeys can vary a lot, the use, if required, of an appropriate charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's 'Owners Manuals' and charger maintainer for recharging the battery has got low or too low (or perhaps preventative charging by driving or use of appropriate charger maintainer). Unfortunately for some with expanded egos and/or testicles larger than their brain it's an afront against them and/or machismo to read instructions. On a battery this young easiest thing to do is use a multimeter on the battery terminal posts a good few hours after the car has been driven and note the reading and do the same again one, two, three weeks later and see if the battery has dropped much - this of course isn't a complete picture as our chap from down-under will point out but unless you've really hammered the battery with use, abuse and neglect it's good enough.

I've never said Chinese made goods can't be very high quality, they certainly can given enough supervision of contract. Some higher end British hi-fi is made very well in China. My point was that EMike didn't think the Chinese made less expensive Lidl/Aldi charger maintainers would be lesser than the CTek models because the Ctek were made in Sweden if they're not (as I suspected). My £23 Ring charger maintainer is made in Chine, like the CTek to the manufacturer's design and standards and it works fine and has done since I bought it a number of years ago (I forget how many). Also my neighbour's £15 Aldi/lLidl charger maintainer has worked fine for many more years. Both of these chargers get a bit more use than once ever 4.5 years, if you wait 4 years to charge a battery that gets too low too often then yes it could be too late to fully recover it or have it provide useful service for too much longer. Later I'll post up the info on the battery in the 'Owner's Manual' it's not much but a bit more than sweet fanny adams, no time now. You and everyone else can do as they please about the car 12v battery and buy and use whatever charger maintainer, like you I just offer alternatives for those that want to to consider. EMike as far as I remember couldn't see the label which is different to not knowing where it is, even you had to learn things for a first time, and like all of us somethings you forget or ignore and believe what you believe based on the evidence or lack of you consider - like all of us (the repeat was deliberate as you're quick to look for something to argue about).

That's why reading the 'Owner's Manual' as soon as you can will keep you more informed as well as possible unnecessary hassle and expense of trips to Dealerships/garages/mechanics/auto-electricians. I've known knowledgeable owners of cars they've had for literally decades learn or relearn something from the 'Owner's Manual'. For those readers without a copy of the 'Owner's Manual' for their car a free VWŠkoda pdf can be download from the VWŠkoda 'Owner's Manual' site or, the more annoying to me, online manual or new models some or all(?) of it might be in an Infotainment menu. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models The VWŠkoda manuals aren't always well written and may have a few errors and omissions but generally they're quite good, very annoying that VW exclude some information that other car manufacturers give quite freely though.

Wow, how quaint, in the UK the Police, or anyone else, can look up to the if a car is MoT'd by looking up online using its registration plate. You can also look up the MoT history of the car going back to 2005. - https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history The Police cars have ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) linked to databases plus they are roadside cameras. - "At present ANPR cameras nationally, submit on average around 60 million ANPR ‘read’ records to national ANPR systems daily." - https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-safety/automatic-number-plate-recognition-anpr/ The car's registration plates can remain the car for it's whole life as long as they're not broken or can't be read. Cars that are more than 40 years old (with no 'substantial changes' made to the vehicle in the last 30 years) don't need a MoT but must still be roadworthy to be used on public roads.

If you want to, you can just put the car's registration into a car parts supplier's search and it will come up with the car info including the engine code, obviously as with all information from any source check that it's right, in this case all the other information about the car such as make, model, year, colour, type, variant, engine size and power, transmission type.

Are you able to move the MoT to a more convenient time of the year? In the UK you can get an MoT up to a month (minus a day) before it runs out and keep the same renewal date - or as I have done get an even earlier date and just lose part of the existing year. I've taken the MoT for my wife's car from end of September to middle of July as this is more convenient to get any checks or work done on the car.

That's one method, the other you probably also know is to Read the Manual. Reading and referring to the manual for the car, and other items, can save you a lot of time, hassle and expense with unnecessary visits to Dealerships/garages/mechanics/auto-electricians. If you read and refer to the manual you can often know more about the car and its running than many long term owners of the model. You haven't said anything to me to suggest your battery is very low of "furred" up, it's 5 years old on a modern VW product that's not driven far or frequently and not had preventative charging, that you have mentioned, so it may be low. You can most likely recover it from this by use of an appropriate charger maintainer £15 or £75 or more or in between. Obviously the better job you do of recharging the battery the greater possibly you have for more and longer lasting recovery. You may not need anything fancy to recharge the battery, I doubt you do given what you have put so far., Unless you've flogging the battery to death for months.. I personally recommend you need patience and time and to fully recharge the battery this may take many hours, overnight or more (or two days plus for a really "dead" battery using lower amps) and to use low amps for recharging, say 3, 4 or 5-amps charger maintainer. Of course you first read the car's 'Owner's Manual' and charger's instruction of how to do the charging properly. The old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer pdf is the user instructions and includes details of charging, you may prefer to look at the CTek MX-5 UK instructions and details. Old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer. - IAN 383685_2110.pdf CTek CT5 Start/Stop UK. - CT5_START_STOP-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf Ctek MXS 5.0 UK. -MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf @Exkiwi are the CTek actually made in Sweden, they may be designed there but are they actually made there, what's it say on the box?

If only the technology, much of it not modern or new at all, was better quality, better built, better designed for use, better programmed for the computer stuff. Although the like of VW and Merc were all in to getting the technology on their cars (being over "clever" and over-complex than required) certainly going back a good while now they used the cheap end of stuff trying to get every decimal place of a cent more from their products. I'm used to old (and brand new) British/English made cars so very used to some lower standards but have always been amazed at how the general public accept the unreliability of computer programs and "smart" (they aren't) devices with the lack of proper use design of products, with the young I can understand it a bit as they haven't experienced different but old-farts falling for the marketing and thinking products are great when they not is beyond me, reluctant acceptance maybe. If any of these caps fit then put them on, possibly pull them over your eyes. 😁 EMike's battery issue is basically the same sort of thing you ancient old-farts would have had in the 50s and 60s but you'd know better than me as I didn't get my driving licence until 1977, and it was valid until 2030! That was next century! Something a 17-year old didn't have to think or worry about. 😄

CTek are popular but in my experience over-priced and over-valued (like old cars called "classics" over here) the vast, vast majority of car owners on here will be fine with a (about) £15 Lidl/Aldi charger maintainer it has 7-stage charging available so will recover a battery at very low state of charge well below what the vast majority here will encounter. Those that prefer to pay about £75 for the CTek MX 5.0 are fine to do so, each to their own. Just an old example of a (about £15) Lidl/Aldi type charger maintainer. - IAN 383685_2110.pdf I don't think Emike will be too confused by the AGM reference (and VW being VW calling it "fleece") as it was explained and Emike has put he's read up about batteries, there are lots and lots of posts on Briskoda about battery changing and charging, quite a few from me. For decades I've run old cars, originally because that's all I could afford and later because I could afford the over-priced over-valued old cars called "classics" and I preferred them to most new or more modern cars, though I've had a few of those too. Until 3 years ago my one and only everyday car was a 1973 MG Midget which I ran for the previous 16 year and before that various "classic" cars as everyday cars for work, commuting (300 and 500 miles a week for a period), club use, holidays in the UK and Europe, so I know the importance of a good battery in a good state of charge and health. Which has only got a greater need with these infotainment wheeled machines that many now use as also transport. I have enough build quality issues with my wife's 2015 VWŠkoda Fabia Mk3 without the need for battery issues, the wiring and electronics issues are already too much. My attitude has always been get the car started, get yourself home and worry about what needs doing after a rest at home, the car is just a lump of metal or metal and wunderbar fantastic plastic with 21st-century German marques.

That was my point really, they can't be that fragile to still be used 20+ years later and higher mileage and going at 4,100 rpm or more occasionally isn't going to cook the engine, I wasn't meaning driving like in that video or not driving well within the green section of the tachometer. I can't remember driving my wife's new at the time early 90s Favorit but I would have very occasionally and I doubt I would have always been in the 2-2,500 rev range. all seems so long ago that it's from different lifetimes but definitely the Estelles were fun to drive despite their lack of acceleration or speed and probably partly because of that. I've had cars overheat when there have been problems with them, more times than they should have but if it wasn't for bad luck I would have had no luck at all with cars (and many people in the UK motor trade despite my best efforts to avoid such people).

Yeap that was also suggested in an earlier post(s?) but included in EMike's opening posts was - so EMike is aware of this option. Modern cars are not well suited to the low mileage and less frequent use of some owners< I have decades of experience of this from my neighbours and many of the old-farts that own old over-priced, over-valued old cars called "classics", some owning more than one or several or more. A couple of them I've known spend months trying to track down the source of issues to eventually 'discover' it's low battery charge and health from lack of vehicle use and a little (more?) effort with the battery.

Interesting, was the alloy finned after I posted I thought about the oil pan but couldn't remember, any oil pan is a type of oil cooler really. What did this achieve in colder countries or colder UK winters. If the Felicias were and are so sensitive and fragile perhaps it from German engineering influence then as I can't remember even having an overheating worries or thoughts even in hot summer (not that they were as hot as now back then. My wife's VWŠkoda 2015 has a oil temperature gauge but I've only ever had one car with an oil temperature gauge and I wished it wasn't there when I was driving it in winter and couldn't get to open the car up a bit to get temperature up. I never worried in summer (or winter really) as I used good oil. It was like the oil pressure gauge readings they would more often worry D.FYLAKTOS to white hair but nothing unusual for the make and model of engine. But you've said the Felicias have oil cooling. If you say VW had/has the engine in a Felicia susceptible to overheating then I must take your word for it but an occasional short time at 4,100 revs seems very fragile indeed even for the quality of German engineering at the time and now. D.FYLAKTOS seems to have driven his Felicia hard for a while, and resistant to engine oils other than for fuel economy surely his VWŠkoda Felicia should cooked to death by now, Greece weather and mountain climbs must be more conducive to overheating and engine cooking.

GT85 though originally a British company was taken over by an invasive American corporation, called WD-40 Company. Whether WD-40 labelled PTFE is the same as WD-40, or even has the same lavender smell I don't and IIRC WD-40 Company UK technical enquires, at least about GT85 i my experience, is dealt with by a third party marketing company. ETA: there's also silicone oil and silicone for some car uses - I've never had trouble with GT85 hold crap but that is just my experience with its use and not to say its not possible by other use or that I might not encounter it in the future I will have to see. You are a mess pup, and/or spray in windy conditions. 😁

A £15 Aldi/Lidl charger maintainer will do the job, the battery is low not "dead" - though I've recovered dead batteries with 40 year-old simple charger and 30 year old charger maintainer and for modern stop/start I might start or continue on with my £23 Ring "smart" (it ain't nothing electronic called "smart" really is, just a marketing wet-dream) similar to its replacement RSC904, other much more expensive and cheaper charger maintainers are available and from other suppliers. - https://shop.ringautomotive.com/rsc904-4a-smart-battery-charger-maintainer.html The following is how all work and farting about with cars should be, hook it up and let it do the work whilst you do something better which is just about most things.-

Not spraying all over the place as you don't want anything on the fabric. I personally use GT85 which is PTFE rather than silicone, it is also a good penetrating/releasing fluid as well as a long lasting lubricant, and smells nice too. - https://gt85.co.uk/ Yes it could be dirt/debris/grit/**** which a lubricating spray might flush out or air blowing might blow it out (or further in perhaps). Much of car servicing, maintenance and many repairs boil down to clean and lubricate of one sort or another. Often well worth trying as a cheap, quick, easy, clean-hands thing to perhaps give time for other work or very often as complete work. The cooling might make things worse buy locking the mispositioning from the movement with the heat, if you take a seatbelt apart you might be surprised by how little is restraining a human body from going forward. I would also use a vey bright light and magnifying glass to perhaps see anything thing blocking and locking the belt up. A few months ago a mate came around as he had spent ages try to get the driver's belt in his car to hold the buckle, he had used sprays used picks and no luck, he wanted help to get the seat out to fit another stalk and I asked him to show me what the problem was and Sod's Law the buckle went into the existing stalk and locked, shear Sod's Law luck, I done nothing, and it's still fine now The smallest bit of crud can prevent some things from work. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

@EMike IF your engine is a 1.0 petrol then on a previous thread the battery might have the VW battery code 8E0 915 105 B (320A DIN is about 530A EN CCA approx. on the conversion chart I have). A list of 8E0 915 105 B equivalent batteries according to Tayna. - https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/f/vw-oem/vw-8e0-915-105-b/ Have you tried recharging the battery using an appropriate battery charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's 'Owner's Manual' and instructions for the appropriate charger maintainer as this could recover the battery to useful longer life. As you don't use the car much you have the time to fully recharge the battery to get the most into to it for it to retain. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models The start/stop not working is the first sign that you should recharge the battery, either by sufficient driving or better still using an appropriate battery charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's 'Owner's Manual' and instructions for the appropriate charger maintainer. You have not mentioned that you have any other warning lights or messages from letting the battery get too low in charge so the battery could be recoverable for further useful life despite VW and others wanting your money for expressive perhaps premature battery replacement and possible 'coding'. Yes of course it's safe to disconnected the battery, in fact VWŠkoda recommend you do so if the car isn't used for x-weeks, again consult the car's 'Owner's Manual' for procedure and advice as to what might need resetting on reconnection. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models Whether you keep the current battery or change it to a new one in future, for less hassle and longer battery life you want to, when required, do occasional preventative charging of the battery with an appropriate battery charger maintainer following the instructions in the car's 'Owner's Manual' and the instructions for the appropriate charger maintainer. I think people had to do this up until say the 1970s for the batteries of the time (6v on some cars) - such is progress. 😆 VWŠkoda didn't bother at the factory putting in the battery serial number on my wife's 2015 Fabia and other Briskoda members have shown the same, just the ten ones (1111111111), the battery brand code doesn't matter either that would have been for VW statistics and most likely to also blame and cost the battery manufacturers for VW's battery charging or monitoring balls-ups, my wife's car got the "battery" Recall. OBDEleven 'coding' done for the change of battery on my wife's 2015 Fabia, note the three character code for battery manufacturer was ignored, I'm told Bosch battery is Varta anyway, and VW being VW AGM is known as fleece by them. There are some very strongly held beliefs, both ways, on this VW battery stuff with very little proof other than what members have reported from their own experiences but 2020 brought another level of VW PITA awkwardness even beyond what they previously made their car owners/users suffer and this has been ramped up again more recently I've seen. Try charging the battery to at least buy you more time while you decide what's right or you want to believe - and you might find you've not killed the battery as much as you thought you had, reports of its (near) death exaggerated.